The Dark Sandman
by gothina234
Summary: The team is called to investigate a series of murders that cannot be explained. The unsub knows more than they think and aims to target the one he believes the weakest, one Dr Spencer Reid. As the team struggles to find the unsub, Reid struggles to fight the man in the one place his friends cannot protect him, his dreams.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, here is my new fanfic. This has more of a supernatural edge to it but I hope you all enjoy it. I urge you all to give this a chance but I'm also thinking up some new ideas as I find writing soothing so I do it often. What would you all like to see in a long-term fanfic? One with addiction, one with a whole team kidnapping situation, etc. I have loads of plans for loads of things but I'm interested to see what readers are craving. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing you. To my regular readers, sorry the delay in posting this new fanfic but had some personal matters to attend to.  
**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid woke up, he rolled around in his bed as he stretched before settling on his back. He looked to his side and found that it wasn't his alarm clock that had pulled him from his sleep but his phone. He picked up the vibrating device and put it to his ear. "Hello."

"Sorry to wake you up, Reid," Garcia's voice came down the phone. "Hotch wants everyone in, we have a new case."

"Let me get dressed and I'll be right in," he yawned.

"Oh, I know you're tired, baby boy, but duty calls."

"You're way too cheery, it's four am and you sound hyper," he said, a smile on his lips. "I'll be right in, just make sure that there is some coffee available."

"Will do," she laughed gently before hanging up the phone. He pulled away the covers and made his way to the closet. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his neck, he felt horrible and wished he was back under the duvet again.

* * *

Reid walked into the BAU and smiled as Garcia walked towards him with a steaming cup of coffee, he took it into his hands and drank deeply from it. He looked at the coffee and knew it tasted different to the bland BAU coffee he usually had to endure. "This isn't from the kitchen."

"No, I keep a little bag of coffee in one of my draws that I usually keep for the tough cases. By how you were talking on the phone, you need a nice jolt to get you going."

He stepped forward and gave her a one-armed hug. "You're an angel."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," she giggled. "Come on, everyone is gathering in the BAU room. It looks like a bad one, Reid."

"When are any of our cases good?"

"Good point," she said before they both began to make their way to BAU room. He walked in and sat down in his chair, JJ was still missing from the briefing but he knew that she was on her way. She always said goodnight to Henry before leaving the house.

"You look like hell, Reid," Rossi remarked.

"He looks fine," Garcia shook her head at Rossi. "I have to do something though or it will drive me crazy."

She walked over to him and began to run her hands through his hair. "What on earth are you doing, Garcia?" he said, trying to avoid her hands but failing. She finished running her hands through his hair and finished by pinching his cheek.

"There we go," she clapped. "Now, you look presentable."

"He looked a little messy before," Hotch chuckled. "Where is JJ?"

"I'm sure she won't take much longer," Morgan shrugged. Reid took another gulp from his coffee, he was already beginning to feel the energy coursing through his body. The noise of a pair of heels walking on a hard floor filled the room before the owner of the heels walked into the room. "I'm so sorry for being late," JJ apologised. "Henry was sick this evening and he isn't feeling well."

"Is he okay?" Reid asked immediately.

"I think it's just a bug going round. His friend, Micah, wasn't well the other day."

"I think we should get started," Hotch announced. Garcia walked to the board and hit a few buttons on the control, they all watched as pictures filled the screen.

"What the hell?" Blake said before Garcia began to talk.

"All of the victims had different causes of death. The first victim, Alicia Jensen, died due to massive internal bleeding, she had multiple fractures, cuts and bruises over her body. The second victim, Thomas Rowe, cause of death was drowning. The third victim, Katie Wren, had stab wounds around her body as well as carvings into her skin."

"Why are the police so sure these cases share a connection?" JJ asked.

"That's the thing," Garcia began. "The doors and windows were all locked from the inside, there is no evidence of anyone in the apartment and they aren't sure how these people died of such injuries. The coroner said that Alicia Jensen's injuries weren't caused by fists, kicks or any other weapon. He said that the only injuries he's seen like this are in people who have died from car accidents. The stab and deep cut wounds on Katie Wren got done simultaneously and the water found in Thomas Rowe's lungs was salt water, almost like he'd been drowned in the sea. No forensic evidence left, no signs of entry and the deaths can't be explained. The police are now stumped and they are turning to us for help."

Reid stared at the screen, his coffee pausing at his lips. The crime scene photos were gruesome but nothing about them made any sense. He put his other hand to his head and rubbed his temple.

"You okay?" Rossi asked.

"I'm fine," he nodded. "I'm just thinking about how he could have done it. Looking at the report, concentration of salt water in his lungs indicates he drowned in the sea. He lives fifteen miles from the sea and the area around his bed was bone dry. I just don't understand how they died."

"Welcome to the police's world," Garcia sighed. "The case is here in Virginia."

"We'll make our way to the police station, I want to work with them closely," Hotch said. "We have a killer and we need to build a profile on this quickly."

* * *

JJ looked over to Reid and couldn't help but think how adorable he looked when he slept, he look exhausted and they let him sleep on the way to the station.

* * *

Reid looked in front of him and found nothing but a thick white fog, it surrounded him. He walked forward through the fog and found it getting lighter and lighter. As he made it through the white shroud, he looked at a small house. It took him a moment to recognise it but knew it was his childhood home. Slowly, he walked up the porch steps and tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. He knocked on the door, hoping someone was in the house. Deep down, he knew there wasn't suppose to be anyone in the house. His childhood home had remained empty for years. He heard footsteps approach the door, the door opened and he took a step back. In front of him stood his seven-year old self.

"What is going on here?" he asked.

"Watch out!" his seven-year old self screamed.

Reid turned around, he fell to the floor but yelped as a knife caught his chest. He looked down and found a cut across his chest and shoulder. He looked up and found a man in a white smiling mask. "I know you're after me," the man laughed before bringing the knife down. The man stumbled as Reid's seven-year old self pushed him down the porch steps.

"Wake up!"

* * *

Reid opened his eyes and gasped, he felt hands on him and tried to push them away.

"Spence, stop moving! You're bleeding," JJ ordered him, her hands pressing a jacket to his chest and shoulder.

"What?" he moaned. He put his hand to his shoulder and then brought it away to find it covered with blood. He realised that the car had stopped and he was laid down in the back of the car. "Why am I bleeding?"

"I don't know," JJ shook her head. "You were screaming one minute and then blood began soaking your shirt."

He wanted to sleep but he kept his eyes open, he didn't want to sleep again, not till he understood what had just happened.

**Please review**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. To answer some questions, this is a bit like a nightmare on elm street but I'm going to change it up in the story, this won't become a long-term fanfic as it's an idea I just really wanted to do. I'm starting my other new fanfic on Tuesday and it'll be a team kidnapping fanfic with Reid in the spotlight. I'm sorry but the show doesn't have near enough Reid whump lately so I'm trying to fill that gap. Enjoy and I'd love to hear from you all.  
**

**Kimd33- No, the Winchester brothers aren't showing up, I did smile when I saw your review.**

**Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, I love every review and thank you for such an amazing response to this fanfic. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid laid in the hospital bed, his chest and shoulder throbbing with pain from where the deep cut was. Luckily, it hadn't been deep enough to do any major damage but required over twenty-five stitches to close it, he had refused the anesthetic and chosen for the doctor to numb the area. He had not told the others about the dream, no, he could only describe it as a nightmare. He didn't know how he had received the long cut down his shoulder and chest, it wasn't possible for people to get hurt in nightmares and wake up with the same wound. Every part of the nightmare repeated in his mind. The words from the man in the white mask echoing constantly in his head.

_I know you're after me._

He came out of his thoughts as the door to his room opened, Morgan walked in and gave him a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Bit woozy," Reid admitted. "They said that was due to the blood I lost, it wasn't a serious amount."

"Reid, all of us feel confused as hell," Morgan said. "JJ said you just started screaming in your sleep and then there was blood coming through your shirt. We didn't find anything that could have cut you, we searched your clothing and the car. How did this happen?"

"I was asleep, Morgan, I have no idea how this happened," he shrugged, he let out a hiss as he realised how much pain the movement caused him. "Dammit."

"Do you want anything for the pain?" Morgan asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I don't want anything for the pain."

"Reid, what were you screaming about in your sleep?"

"Nothing," he lied, not wanting Morgan to think he was crazy.

"Don't lie to me, kid."

"I was dreaming about my childhood home, I went up the door and my seven-year old self opened the door."

"Why would that make you scream?" Morgan questioned.

Reid remained silent and remembered his younger self screaming at him in the nightmare to watch out, his younger self had saved him from being killed. _Can you die in a dream?_ he wondered.

Morgan was about to talk when his phone went off, Reid watched as he picked it up and began a conversation. A grim look came to Morgan's face before he hung up the phone. "We have another victim."

"Who? How did they die?"

"A young man called Kevin Sarvon, he got shot eight times in the back but there are no signs of entry and none of his neighbours heard gunshots, I have to go and meet with Hotch at the crime scene. We aren't finished with this discussion, kid. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Could you get me a coffee?" he asked

"Sorry, kid, doctor said that you wasn't allowed to have coffee till you blood count comes back up. I can get you some juice or water."

"No, it's okay. Just go and catch this bastard."

* * *

**A few hours later**

Reid felt his eyes droop but sat up again, he blinked and refused to go to sleep. A nurse came in a few minutes later with his doctor.

"Hello, Spencer," the doctor smiled as she came closer to the bed. "The nurses tell me that you're refusing to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep, that's not a crime," he snapped, he realised how rude he was being and sighed. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"Spencer, you have to sleep. You lost some blood when you received your cut and it's important that you rest. The nurse is going to give you something to help you sleep, it's not a narcotic, just a sedative."

"No, I don't want a sedative," Reid shook his head, he watched as the nurse brought up a syringe to his IV. "Don't you dare put that in my IV."

"Calm down, Spencer, you need to relax," the doctor said as she took his arms to stop him from struggling too much, she didn't want him ripping out his stitches.

Reid watched helplessly as the nurse injected the sedative into his IV, he felt the effects immediately. The doctor lowered him to the bed as he began to fall asleep, he leaned into the pillow and felt a dulled sense of fear as he closed his eyes.

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself back at his childhood home, he turned around on the porch and found himself staring at the fog again. He was about to take a step forward when he was suddenly yanked back through a door. He wrenched himself away from the person who had grabbed him but calmed when he found himself staring at his younger self again. "You're safe in here but not for long. You need to wake up."

"I don't understand," he shook his head. "What is going on?"

"Just wake up, you idiot," his younger self screamed.

"I can't!" he yelled as he became frustrated at the lack of answers. "They gave me a sedative, I can't wake up. Have I gone crazy? Is that it?"

"No, he's after you because he knows you're after him. He knows about the team but he wants you."

"How do you know about the team?"

"I'm little but I'm still you, the logical although strange explanation is that I'm a manifestation that your mind is using to try to protect itself and you. I represent who you were before the bad times began."

"What bad times?"

"Before Dad ran away, before mother began to lose control and before you went to high school. At seven, you were somewhat happy, when you turned eight, everything changed and you grew up into a man quicker than others."

"Don't you just know everything?" Reid cocked his head sarcastically. He wasn't acting like himself and he had every right, he had no idea what was happening.

"If I know everything, that means you know everything. The dark Sandman is after you and you cannot fight him, you have to run. He wants to kill you to stop the others from coming after him."

"Are they in danger?"

"They will be if someone doesn't stop him," his younger self said with a shaky voice.

Reid looked around the room as it began to darken, little Reid grabbed his hand and rushed him up the stairs, they both heard the door downstairs smash open.

"I know you're in here," a voice screamed from downstairs.

Little Reid rushed him down the hall and into a bedroom. Reid looked around his old bedroom and couldn't help but smile at all the notebooks and toys around his room. He got pushed towards a small closet. "I don't want to go in there."

"Don't worry, it doesn't lead to darkness. You have to keep running from him and the deeper you go, the harder it'll be for him to follow. Try not to go too deep, you'll see things you don't want to see and remember the way you came. Just keep running."

"What about you?" Reid asked his younger self.

"Don't worry," little Reid smiled. "I'm good at hiding. We both know how to hide.

Reid stepped through the closet and heard the door slam behind him, he looked back and then look forward to see the closet wall had disappeared and he was now in his old high school's library. "What the hell is going on here?" he said to himself.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I know this is a bit shorter than yesterday's chapter but I'm a bit behind today because of my fridge deciding to freeze things solid. I'll answer some questions. The reason I can do so many stories, so often, is because for the last two years I have slept during the day and been awake at night and there isn't much to do at night so I focus on my writing. I'll give you all the update days so you can put them in your calendars. This fanfic gets updated everyday, my other fanfic Life behind the closed door gets updated every two days and is being updated tonight. My new fanfic which will start tomorrow (title still pending) will get updated every two days but not the same day as Life behind the closed door. You'll all get at least two updates a day for the next few weeks anyway. Enjoy and I'd love to hear from you all.  
**

**Thank you for all the reviews, you're wonderful and absolutely amazing, you're all great and deserve the best things in the world. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Blake walked into the hospital room and found Reid sleeping peacefully in the bed, she came over to the bed and pulled the blanket further up so he didn't get cold, she had come to check on him while the rest of the team spoke with the families of all the victims. She gently lifted up his hospital gown at the shoulder and found a large bandage covering his shoulder and part of his chest. They were all still stumped on how Reid had obtained such a vicious cut.

* * *

Reid walked down the aisles of his old school library, smiling as he remembered all the books and how safe he had felt in this place. When he was younger, he saw this library of knowledge as a hub of safety. He turned the corner and stopped when he found a younger version of himself sitting on the library floor, surrounded with large, hardcover books, he knew this wasn't the same little version of himself that had helped him.

"Hello," he called out but his younger self didn't even look up.

"There you are," a voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw the Dark Sandman. "You're fascinating, Spencer Reid. I've never known a mind as powerful and resilient as this one. You can't run from me forever, in this world of dreams, I'm God."

"Who are you? What are you?"

"In your mind I believe I'm called the Dark Sandman, a name I rather like and may keep. I'm just as human as you but I was born with a very special gift, one that I like using."

"Why me?"

"It's strange, your mind is the easiest to enter but it's dangerous, the younger you almost crushed me beneath a bookshelf before running away."

"Whatever is happening, I'll tell you this," Reid smiled. "If you fear a bookshelf crushing you, it means you're just as susceptible to death as I am. I will wake up when that sedative wears off and you won't touch me then."

"You can't stay awake forever, Spencey."

"I can stay awake long enough to find you."

"You can't even see my face, how will you find me?"

"Trust me, I'll find you and I'll end this madness."

"You won't have that chance," the masked man chuckled. "You'll be dead during this slumber."

Reid blinked for a second and found the man in front of him, he managed to avoid the knife by jumping backwards but didn't manage to avoid the fist that flew into his face and broke his nose, he fell to the floor and tasted the blood as it trickled quickly to his lips. He rolled away as the dark Sandman suddenly brought down an axe, an axe that barely missed him. He kicked the man in the gut and ran towards a set of wooden doors. He ripped open the doors and then slammed them behind him. He turned the lock and then wedged a chair under the handles. He turned around and felt fear engulf him as he recognised his new surroundings, it was the football field where he had suffered as a twelve-year-old.

"No, please let me go!"

He looked over to another set of doors as they whipped open to show his twelve-year-old self being dragged into the football field. He shook his head and turned away from the scene in front of him. He could hear his younger self screaming for help.

* * *

Blake looked up from her magazine and gasped as she watched a fountain of blood pour from Reid's nose, she jumped up and pressed the call button. She looked at his nose and found that it looked awkward and under his eyes had started to bruise. A nurse rushed in and quickly grabbed some paper towels and gloves, she slipped on the gloves and looked to Blake. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, I was just reading the magazine and then I looked up and his nose was pouring blood," she explained.

"Help me sit him up," the nurse said. "We need to control where the blood goes."

"What is happening to him?" Blake asked.

"I don't know," the nurse answered honestly as she looked at the obviously broken nose.

* * *

Reid didn't dare look as he heard his younger self scream and beg at the football players to let him go, going deeper into his mind was bringing memories to the front of his mind that he didn't want to relive.

"Oh, I guess you weren't very popular," the dark Sandman laughed as he came down the stairs with crossbow. He brought it up and aimed it at Reid. "Now, you're dead.

Reid watched his finger pulled the trigger...

* * *

He gasped as he woke up in the hospital bed, two hands gripped him and tried to get him to focus, he looked to the side and saw Blake smiling gently at him. "Reid, it's okay. You're in the hospital."

He used his free hand to search his body and found no holes from the arrow that the Sandman had aimed at him. Bringing his hand up, he winced as he touched his nose and found it extremely sensitive to pain. "Ow!"

"It's broken," she explained as she moved his hand away from the bandage. "We don't know how though."

"Wait, why do I feel so alert? I feel full of energy."

"They injected something into your IV to help you wake up, they needed you awake so they can figure out the cause of your broken nose. Reid, I've been here for a while, no-one has come in and you were asleep when blood began pouring from your nose."

"Listen to me, Blake," he said, his voice sounding strange due to his nose. "Don't let me go back to sleep and don't let them give me any sedatives again."

"Why?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy," he sighed before brushing his hand through his hair.

"Tell me, Reid."

"The man who killed the others is after me, he's trying to kill me. He's the one who broke my nose and cut my shoulder, I don't have time to waste pretending this isn't happening. You have to believe me, if not, I'm dead. If I sleep, he'll come for me."

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm so happy that you're all enjoying this story, I was a little worried about how people would receive it but it's something different and I enjoy being a little different. Reid is going to go through a tough time but I'll tease that somewhere in his mind will keep him safe for a while but that won't come till either the next chapter or the one after that. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Personal question - I've felt this weird anxiety for about a week and a bit, any tips on how to bring it down? I don't even know what's causing it. I'm looking for answers from anyone and from everywhere.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're wonderful and I just want to hug you and twirl you around forever. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid sat up against the pillows of the hospital bed, he wanted to leave the hospital, he didn't want another sedative injected into his IV. Blake had called the others and he had made her only call the team and no other officers from the police department, he had doubts that his own team would believe him. The door opened and the team came in, JJ let out a small gasp when she saw his nose and face. "What happened?"

"His nose somehow got broke while he was asleep," Blake said from her chair.

"He broke it," Reid said as he looked at them all. "Close the door, I don't want the doctors hearing this."

Hotch obliged and closed the door. "Reid, what are you talking about?"

"Look," he began. "You're all going to think I'm crazy but I'm not. In the car, I probably screamed because of what was happening in my dreams. Morgan, I didn't tell you everything, when my younger self opened the door he shouted for me to look out, I turned around and barely dodged the knife. Unfortunately, the unsub managed to catch my chest and shoulder. I got cut by the man in my dreams and I woke up with the same wound. He killed the other victims and now he is coming after me."

"Reid, that isn't possible," Rossi said as he stepped towards the bed.

"I'm a man of science, Rossi," he sighed, hearing the disbelief in Rossi's voice. "You think I don't find this completely strange and impossible. Consider the facts, I was alone in the car and there was nothing around me that could have given me the deep cut to my shoulder and chest. I was with Blake in this room, sedated and yet my nose got broken. He punched me while I was asleep and trust me, I felt him break my nose in my dream. He's even adopted the name my mind gave him."

"What name?" JJ asked.

"The Dark Sandman, he seems to like the name. I know this sounds insane but I'm telling you the truth. He knows about all of you but he decided to come after me."

"If we were to say that what you're saying is true, why did he come after you?" Morgan wondered.

"My mind was the easiest to get into according to him but he's having difficulty inside of my head. It is true, Morgan. If I fall asleep again, there is no guarantee that I'll wake up. He's intent on killing me as a message to you all."

"People can't die in their dreams," Hotch shook his head. "There must be some other way he's doing it, people can't get killed in their dreams. That isn't possible."

"Think about the other victims. All of them in their own homes but killed in manners that cannot be explained. All the coroner's reports listed the causes of death but you can't explain how a man drowns in seawater when he is fifteen miles away from the sea or how a woman dies of injuries only seen after car accidents and hit and runs. The latest victim died of eight gun shots but no-one heard any gunshots, there was no gun residue and there was no sign on a break in. He's after me and so far, my mind has protected me. He called me strange because of it."

A silence came over the room as all of them thought about what Reid was saying. It was the best explanation they had so far. JJ couldn't deny what she had seen in the back of the SUV, cuts and blood just don't come out of anywhere. They also knew he wouldn't joke about these things.

"I can't believe I'm about to say this but, how are you getting away from him?" Hotch questioned, still in a daze at what they were discussing. If any of the officers at the station heard them talk this way, they would call all of them insane.

"My seven-year old self told me to run and to keep running, he sounded too smart for his own good."

"I wonder why," Morgan smirked before realising that he was agreeing with a world of dreams and killers who could strike in dreams.

"So, do you all believe me?"

The team all exchanged a look before Hotch let out a sigh. "Let's say, we are going with the best lead we have and that happens to now be you and this Dark Sandman. I find this almost impossible to believe but it makes sense in a strange way."

"If I wasn't in hospital with a painful shoulder and a broken nose, I'd find this all hard to believe too," Reid smiled gently. "I can't go back to sleep. Running from him is causing me problems."

"Like what?" Rossi said.

"The more I run, the deeper I go into memories I would rather not to go back to. I went back to the football field, Morgan."

"What are you talking about?" JJ wondered.

"Nothing he needs to talk about again," Morgan said quickly. "Just leave it at that."

JJ nodded and then turned back to Reid. "Why are you strange to him?"

"I think the others couldn't do what I'm doing," he explained, brushing his free hand through his hair. "He said he was born with the ability to do this. Hotch, he's enjoying the killing. We have to stop him because he's never going to stop."

"What does he look like?" Morgan questioned.

"He's wearing a white mask, I can't see his face. I think he's afraid though when he comes into my head."

"Why?"

"He said my younger self tried to put him under a bookshelf, I think he can die in the dreams too."

"Do you think you could disable him?" Rossi said.

"He changed a knife into an axe within the blink of an eye, I don't think it's safe for me to try to take him down. We need to find him when he's not in someone else's head or mine. I know this is one of the most craziest things you've ever had to accept but just go with it. Maybe we could have Garcia do a nationwide search for deaths like the ones that have happened and see if any of them had a personal connection. I find it hard to believe that his first few killings were not personal."

"Even if we find this unsub, we could never prosecute him," Blake pointed out. "We have no evidence against him and we wouldn't be able to even hold him in jail because we have no proof. How do you prove something like this?"

"We can't," Reid sighed deeply. "Look, we have to stop him. We have to put an end to him and use any means to do it, even if we have to kill him."

* * *

Garcia had listened to Morgan explain everything and found it hard to accept, she did know that her baby boy wouldn't say something like that if there wasn't a truth to it. She now had a full cup of coffee to keep herself awake and was waiting for the search to finish on her computer, she rolled her chair over to another screen and keyboard and looked at local dream myths and the cultures that believed in them. Her eyes looked over the information and she noticed that certain roots are believed to let people walk through dreams and control them. As her computer beeped, she rolled back over and found a list of names from the search.

"How many has he killed?" she shook her head as she looked at all the names.

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	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Things will start to get interesting here and we find out that there are other ways to get to Spencer other than his dreams. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, you're wonderful and beautiful. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid hissed as Morgan helped him into a t-shirt, his shoulder ached and burned with each movement but he got past it and managed to get the shirt on. He didn't want any pain medication because it would make him sleepy, he would rather suffer through the pain of a deep cut and a broken nose than go to sleep again. He knew that staying awake wasn't a permanent solution but he hoped they would find the man before he had to sleep again. He had done sleepless nights before, Maeve's death had kept him up for months after her death and he only ever managed a few hours in those months. He lowered himself off the bed into a pair of converses that Morgan tied up for him. The rest of the team had gone ahead of them and they were now back at the BAU.

"Reid, I've seen some strange things in my life but what is happening with you is the weirdest thing I've known in my entire life. I can't even believe we're talking about an unsub killing people in dreams. It makes sense though, there is no other explanation for the deaths or for how you got your injuries. Kid, I'll keep you awake for as long as it's safe, we'll get him before you have to sleep again."

"I know we will, Morgan. I'm going to need anything that can raise my energy levels, things like coffee, sugary food and energy drinks. I really don't want to face him again. He has more control than me."

"How much control does he have?"

"He can turn a knife into an axe and he can follow me anywhere I go, I can only stay ahead of him for a certain amount of time."

"We'll get rid of him, don't worry about that. I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"You can protect me here, Morgan, but you can't protect me while I'm asleep."

* * *

Reid walked into the BAU and got guided by Garcia over to the couch where she had put some energy drinks and a cup of coffee on the bedside table. He picked up the coffee and took three large gulps from it.

"Reid, don't drink too much, only drink what you need to stay awake. Your heart can't take too much stimuli, your health is important too. Garcia, Reid will stay with you until this is all over."

"I'll keep an eye on him, I don't think I'm going to go to sleep anytime soon," she said before putting up a list of names on the television screen. "Okay, so these cases are still cold case, the deaths couldn't be explained and the MO fits with this Dark Sandman."

"There are over thirty-six names," Reid said as he looked at all the names. "How long has he been doing this?"

"The first death was three years ago, this list also includes the latest victims," Garcia explained.

"He's been busy," Rossi mumbled.

"Wait, could you find any personal connection?"

"Yes, I did," she smiled. "The first three victims all went to college together and they all had the same professor, his name was Walter Nolan."

"It could be this professor who is doing all the killing," Hotch mused as he looked at the screen. "What about the professor's record?"

"He's clean on the criminal front but he did make some complaints against the three students. He claimed that they were abusing and harassing him in his class and at his home. The complaints got dismissed by the police and the college board."

"What does he teach?" Reid yawned, causing them all to look over to him. "I'm fine, I'm not tired. It's known that when a person yawns, it's their body trying to get more oxygen. Let's just get on with this quickly. I don't think I can last as long as eleven days."

"Eleven days?" JJ frowned.

"The longest time someone has ever stayed awake is eleven days and they did it without any stimulants like red bull or coffee. What does the professor teach?"

"He teaches history," Rossi said as he looked at his tablet. "That would give him plenty of access to cultures."

"There are cultures that believe people can walk through dreams without help, some cultures believe that you can go into other people's dreams using certain herbs and roots," Garcia said.

"Really?" Morgan said before looking to Reid.

"Don't even think about it, Morgan," Reid shook his head. "They're only myths anyway."

"Reid, what is happening to you isn't exactly normal but we're all here trying to save you from a crazed bastard who wants to kill you. Myths don't seem so hard to believe at the moment."

"What are you thinking of doing?" Hotch questioned.

"He's thinking that if he took some of these herbs, he'd be able to help me," Reid explained. "Let's just focus on getting this professor in the waking world. Where does he live?"

"This is where I have some bad news," Garcia sighed. "He's been off the grid for years, he cleared his savings and bank account three years ago and there is no trace of him after the first three murders. He could be anywhere."

"Great," Reid muttered as he closed the file in front of him. "We have no way of tracing this guy."

"We could put out an alert or call for his arrest," Blake suggested.

"With what evidence," Rossi pointed out. "We can't put out an alert as we have no evidence for an arrest and it would bring the local police into this case again. We have no logical answers to give to them. We have to find him ourselves."

"Garcia, get me a list of places where I can get some of the herbs," Morgan asked.

"No," Reid snapped. "He's after me, not you."

"Kid, if we can't find this guy and you fall asleep, you'll be on your own. We're a team for a reason and I'm not about to let you get hurt. I said I would protect you and I will. No matter what crazy way I do it, I'll protect you," Morgan promised before looking to Garcia. "Get me that list, Garcia."

* * *

_Henry shivered as he walked through the playground, it was dark and daddy had disappeared. "Daddy, where are you?!" he yelled. He felt his heart race as he heard a horrible laughter. He turned around and screamed as a man in a mask laughed at him and grabbed his wrist._

_"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" he screamed._

_"Tell your uncle Spencer that the Dark Sandman is waiting. Call him!"_

* * *

Henry gasped and bolted upright in his bed, he came into father's arms and held him tightly.

"It's okay, Henry. Daddy's here," Will soothed his frightened son.

"I need to call Uncle Spencer, bad man told me to call Uncle Spencer," Henry cried.

**Please review**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Before some people say this, what Morgan drinks in this is a real thing and I know they used it on Supernatural, I've beat you all to pointing that out. I'm glad I've swayed some of you to supernatural themed fanfics. Yes, Reid will do anything to protect his godson and trust me, things are about to get good! Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, they mean so much to me and they make me smile everyday. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

"Reid, Henry's on the phone for you," Garcia said with a frown on her face. "He's upset."

Reid immediately took the phone from her and put it to his ear. Henry's sobbing filled his ear. "Henry, it's Uncle Spence, what's wrong? Why are you upset?"

"I had a b-bad dream," Henry cried. "The bad man s-said to t-tell you he's waiting. He grabbed me and t-told me to call you. Uncle Spence, it was scary and he had a m-mask on."

Reid's eyes opened wide as he listened to his godson. "Henry, did he tell you his name?"

"He said he was t-the Dark Sandman," his godson answered with a hitched breath. Reid gripped the phone and felt unbelievable anger at the man who had gone after his godson. Henry was only a child and it was cruel to go after him.

"Henry, I know you're scared but I promise you that everything will be fine, it was just a bad dream. Uncle Spence will take care of the bad man so he never scares you again, I'll protect you from the Dark Sandman, I promise. Can you give the phone back to your dad?"

"O-Okay," Henry said. "Don't break your promise."

"I never do," Reid said to Henry. He heard a rustle and then Will's voice came down the phone. "Spencer, what's going on?"

"Listen, Will, I can't explain everything now but I need you to keep Henry awake, check his wrist and tell me if he has a bruise or not."

"What the hell? That wasn't there when he went to sleep, he only went for a nap."

"Just keep him awake, if you keep him awake, he'll be safe. I'm going to fix everything. JJ will explain everything soon, I'll get her to give you a call. Just keep an eye on Henry and if he does fall asleep, wake him up."

"I'll keep him awake," Will agreed. "I expect a full explanation later."

"You'll get one, I promise. Talk later, bye."

Rising from the couch after hanging up the phone, he gave it back to Garcia and clenched his fist. "He went after Henry."

"What?!" Garcia gasped. "Is Henry okay?"

"He's got a bruise on his wrist from the unsub grabbing it. He used my godson to deliver a warning and I won't have that. He can come after me all he wants but I will not let him hurt Henry. He's just a little boy. Where is Morgan?"

"He'll be back soon," Garcia said. "He went to get the herbs and roots he wanted me to find, the store closes soon. We'll have the bullpen to ourselves soon, most of the agents are going home for the night. What do you want with Morgan?"

"I want to know if he's serious about trying to help me in my dreams," Reid said. "I have to go to sleep and face this bastard. I can only stay up for a certain amount of time and besides, Henry, can't stay up forever. He's a child and he won't be able to fight sleep off for long. If it works, Morgan can help me take the man down and then we can find him in the real world to make sure he's not a threat anymore."

"We could all lose you both," Garcia sighed with worry.

"Have you ever known Morgan to fail at anything?"

"No, he's more stubborn than you sometimes," she smiled sadly.

"I need you print off how to use these roots, if they work then they can give me a chance."

* * *

Morgan looked into the glass that contained the dream root tea, it smelled horrible and he knew it was going to taste like hell. "That looks disgusting."

"Suck it up, Morgan," Rossi nodded. "I've seen you drink alcohol worse than that. I don't understand why we're only sending you in."

"I've got no choice about going in," Spencer said. "Morgan is coming along because he can help me fight this guy. We can't risk the entire team being killed. I just need to say this. If this goes wrong and something happens to me, can you make sure my mom gets taken care of? I don't want her alone."

"Nothing will happen but we'll make sure she's taken care of if something does happen, I promise," Hotch assured him.

"We're still missing one ingredient," Garcia pointed at the cup, she went over and plucked some hair from Reid's head.

"Ow, Garcia."

"Sorry, baby boy," she apologised before putting the hair into Morgan's cup.

"Why are you putting that in there?" Morgan questioned.

"You need some of Reid's DNA to get into his dreams," Garcia explained. She grabbed another cup of the tea and handed it to Reid. "This one is for you. I've followed the instructions to the letter. This should work. Reid, you need to drink your tea as according to some myths, it can give you more control over your dreams."

Morgan picked his glass up and looked at Reid. "You ready to do this?"

"He came after Henry, I'm ready to kill this bastard."

They clinked their glasses together and then both began to drink down the tea. Morgan finished his first but coughed and shuddered at the taste. Reid coughed and put down the glass down. "That's just-" Reid began before he dropped the glass and began to fall forward. Blake and Hotch caught him before he could hit the floor, they looked up and found Morgan had fallen back against the couch and was out cold.

* * *

Morgan opened his eyes and found himself in a football field, he looked up and saw a boy crying as he got tied to a pole naked. He jumped when a hand came to his shoulder, he turned round and saw Reid. "Don't watch that Morgan. Follow me, he'll be here soon."

Morgan followed Reid to a tunnel in the football stadium, it became dark for a moment and then they came out in the BAU bullpen. "Oh, this is trippy," Morgan said.

"Welcome to my world," Reid shrugged.

"You don't have injuries here," Morgan observed.

"When I come back into my dreams, they are gone. I'm not so lucky when I wake up."

"Why are we at the bullpen?"

"It's one of the places where I feel safe. We all work here and I know that I always have a home here. We shouldn't stay here long, he catches up quickly," Reid warned as he climbed the stairs with Morgan at his side. They turned the corner and made their way through another door. This time, they came through to find themselves surrounded by darkness. Morgan searched around and found a light near the roof. He pulled it and they realised they were in a closet.

Reid stumbled back against the wall as he found himself staring at his thirteen year old self who was sitting on the floor and crying.

"Kid, what's going on?"

A knife came through the closet door causing both men to jump back.

"Reid, is this the Dark Sandman?"

"Give me back my son," a woman's voice screamed.

Reid shook his head and Morgan saw the traumatized look in his eyes. "No," he shook his head. "That's my mom, she tried to kill me when I was thirteen."

**Please review**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This chapter explores just how much Reid wants to lock away his memories so he doesn't have to experience them. I promise you that I have lots of goodies in store for the next few chapters. I'm so happy you're all still enjoying this story and I love the reviews. This is a bit shorter than I wanted but my hands are starting to swell due to the problem I have with them, there'll be a longer chapter tomorrow. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're amazing and just the greatest angels ever! Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

"That's your mom with the knife," Morgan said in disbelief. "What do you mean she tried to kill you?"

"Look at my arm and leg," Reid pointed at his younger self. Morgan looked down and noticed a dark red stain across the young Reid's leg and another cut soaking the white shirt from the sleeve. "This was one of the worst episodes that she ever had, she grabbed a knife and just came after me, she thought that I was just a spy and that her real son had gotten kidnapped. She wanted her real son back and she thought that the only way she could do that was to kill the imposter. She managed to cut my leg and arm before I ran into the closet to get away."

"Why haven't you ever told us about this, kid?"

"I didn't want the team knowing that my mother tried to stab me when I was younger. I love my mother and I don't blame her for anything that she did."

"I'm sorry that you didn't have a proper childhood."

"I don't want to stay here," Reid shook his head, he reached up and pulled the switch causing the entire closet to go dark again, his mother's screaming stopped and faded into silence. He turned the light back on and they both found themselves in a long corridor with doors lining it. "I don't where this is."

"Let's just keep moving, we need to start making a plan to trap this son of a bitch and take him down."

"That will not be an easy task," Reid said. "He's got a lot more power here than I do."

"The dream tea might have changed that," Morgan pointed out. "Garcia said that some cultures believe that the tea gives you more control in your own dreams."

"I hope so."

They both began to walk down the corridor, they stopped when they came to a metal door and heard muttering coming from behind it. Reid slid the metal bar across and pulled the door open, he felt his heart turn to ice as he took in the scene in front of him. "No."

Morgan looked into the room and found another version of Reid sitting in the corner, writing on the concrete walls with a black marker and muttering to himself, this version of Reid looked older, dishevelled and jittery compared to the real Reid. He looked at the writing on the wall and recognised the words. "Bob Dylan songs?" he muttered in confusion. "Kid, what is this?"

"It's not a memory, it's something I want to stay locked away for the rest of my life," Reid whispered. "This is what I fear I'll become if I ever succumb to schizophrenia. My mom used to fill notebook after notebook with Bob Dylan songs."

"I remember you telling me."

"I guess I imagine I'll end up doing the same thing, I'll just write the lyrics to the his songs on the walls and in notebooks repeatedly."

"No," the jittery version of Reid panicked as he looked at the wall. "No, it's wrong. How could I have made a mistake?"

He began to hit himself causing Morgan distress, he never knew that Reid thought this way. Reid pulled him out of the room and then slammed the metal door as the other version of himself began to scream inside the room, he pulled the metal across and made sure it was secure.

"Reid, are you okay?" Morgan asked.

"No, I know that we're just scratching the surface and I'm afraid of what I'm going to see. You're going to hate me by the time we leave this place."

"I'll never hate you. I just want to protect you and no matter what I see, I'll stay by your side. We have to keep moving but if he catches up, I'm ready to do everything I can to stop him."

"Thank you for being my friend, Morgan. I never had a best friend growing up," he smiled gently.

"You have one in here with you and you have five more in the real world."

* * *

Garcia checked on both her men and stroked her hand through Reid's hair. "Do you think they're okay?"

"They aren't showing signs of injury and they seem quite calm in their sleep," Rossi observed. "They're fine, Garcia."

"I hope so, I don't want them to get hurt," Garcia worried as she made sure they were comfortable.

"We can't help them where they are now," Hotch said. "They're on their own."

* * *

Reid and Morgan turned the corner and found three heavily padlocked, chained and fortified doors.

"What are these?" Morgan asked, he took a step forward but Reid stayed put.

"I'm not going near them," Reid shook his head. "Let's try another one."

He turned around and found all the doors had disappeared and only the three secured ones were left. "No, no, no, no, no."

"Reid, calm down."

"I don't want to go in those rooms. Morgan, you don't know what's behind those doors. I'm not even sure but I know they aren't good."

"I'll be with you the entire time."

"Even in death," a voice laughed from behind them. Reid turned around and looked to see the Dark Sandman, he ducked as a metal arrow came towards him. He heard a gunshot and heard the Dark Sandman as he yelled out in pain, he looked to his left and saw Morgan with a government issued firearm. The Sandman rushed around the corner and out of sight, Morgan chased after him but stopped when the man disappeared. Rising to his feet, Reid pointed at the gun.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"I don't know," Morgan shrugged. "I watched you dodge the arrow and thought about how much I needed my gun, it just came into my hand. I hit him, he's wounded now but we need to move out of this corridor before he comes back. You need to pick a room."

Reid closed his eyes and knew he had no choice. He pointed to the middle door, as he pointed all the locks broke open and the chains fell away. Slowly, he opened the door and stepped through with Morgan at his side. Morgan closed the door and turned around, he stood still as he took in the horrific sight in front of him. "Reid, I'm so sorry."

Morgan watched his best friend walk towards the large pool of blood and fall to his knees in tears, Reid reached his hand out and touched the pale and cold skin of the only woman he had ever truly loved. "Maeve, I'm so sorry. I miss you so much," he cried as he touched her cheek.

**Please review**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I wanted this longer but I absolutely love the ending of this chapter, I just don't have the heart to change it make the chapter longer. I almost didn't update tonight as I'm knackered from running after two little cousins all day. How can they have so much energy?! Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all. I'm super excited about this chapter.  
**

**annigirl09- That song goes around in my head as I'm writing this, you forgot one bit though. Three, four, gonna knock your door. That is a creepy song.**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're magnificent and the wonders that me smile every day. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid kept stroking her cheek and ignored the tears falling down his own cheeks. Her eyes forever closed with blood surrounding her, he remembered screaming her name and pleading for her life. She was the only woman he had ever loved, the woman he had wanted to have a wonderful life with but Diane had ripped that all away from him, he lost everything he could have ever had that day in the second it took Diane to pull the trigger. He felt two hands grip his arms and try to pull him away but he shrugged them away. "Leave me alone!"

"I understand why you've tried to keep this locked away," Morgan said gently. "I'm so sorry that we didn't save her that day. I broke a promise that day and I hate myself every day for letting you down. She's gone but you shouldn't remember her like this."

"What are you talking about?" Reid whispered.

"She was a wonderful woman who loved you with all her heart, I saw that the moment I came into the room. She did love you, kid, and you should remember her as the strong woman she was. The one who would send you letters and the one who said I love you first. Create a new way to remember her."

"How can I create a new way to remember her when she isn't alive?"

"You told me what you told Rossi once. You dreamed of her in a library, where the both of you danced."

Reid closed his eyes and nodded. As he opened his eyes again, he found Maeve's body was no longer in front of him, all the blood had disappeared and they were in a new room, he rose to his feet and instantly recognised it as the library where he danced with Maeve. A soft small hand found its way into his hand, he turned and smiled as he looked into her eyes. "Hello, Spencer," Maeve spoke gently.

Morgan stepped back and leaned against the wall, he felt his eyes tear up as he watched Maeve pull Reid close. Reid began to dance with her, Morgan had not seen him this happy in a long time.

Reid held Maeve close and grinned happily as she leaned against his shoulder. "I love you, Maeve. I always will."

"I love you too," she whispered. He kissed her cheek tenderly and closed his eyes as they danced. He opened his eyes again and found himself back in the corridor with Morgan, he put down his arms and looked back to the wall to now only find two doors.

"Where did the door go?" he wondered.

"You turned it back into a good memory, kid," Morgan explained with a smile. "Like I said, don't remember her covered with blood or scared. Think of her smiling and the both of you dancing."

Reid knew that he was going to have to choose one of the two remaining doors, his mind was making him face all the fears that haunted it.

"Which one are we going into next?"

Reid looked between the doors and sighed, he pointed to the left door and watched as the chains and locks fell away again. "Morgan, don't let me do this alone."

"I won't let you go in there alone, I'll go first."

Morgan pulled opened the door and stepped through first, Reid followed him and felt a cold chill come over him, the door closed behind him and he found his shoes suddenly crunching leaves, sticks and dirt.

"Reid, I know where we are."

Reid walked to him and looked in the same direction as Morgan. He could never forget that small little shack. "Tobias," Reid's voice shook. He tried to take a step backwards but couldn't, his body seemed to move by itself as it walked towards the shack. He climbed the steps and made sure Morgan was with him. Pushing the wooden door open, he walked in to find another version of himself. This version of himself he had buried away in his mind, this version of himself had suffered two horrible days under Tobias's torture.

Days that had been full of dehydration, starvation, beatings, forced drug use and a small dance with death. Morgan went to free the other version but Reid stopped him. "It's no use, Morgan. He's not going anywhere."

"You don't seem that scared," Morgan observed.

"He isn't something I'm scared of," Reid sighed. "Tobias and the memory of him scares me but this version of me is a reminder I choose to lock away. He's the one who gave into the drugs, the one who did stupid things for them and the one who let everyone down. I never want to ever be him again. My time with Tobias changed me, I became weaker but overcoming that weakness made me stronger. He's the one who is weak, Morgan, and I'll never be him again."

"No-one thinks you will. You're not weak, Reid. We all know that, you're one of the strongest of us."

"I'm not," he shook his head. "I'm stronger than I was but I'll never be as strong as I want."

"Strong men fall hard," a voice came through the room. Morgan heard a growl behind him, he turned around only to get knocked to the ground by a vicious dog, he cried out as the dog bit into his arm. Reid ran to help but felt something wrap around him throat, he cried out as the rope tightened around his neck and yanked him up and off the floor. He clutched at the rope and began to gasp for air. He kicked his legs and panicked when he saw the Dark Sandman approaching him.

* * *

"Something just bit him," Rossi shouted as he pressed a towel around Morgan's arm. They had all been watching over them when Morgan had yelled out in pain, blood and a bite mark had appeared out of no-where. He wrapped the towel around Morgan's arm and tried to keep him from struggling too much. He was clearly fighting something inside the dream.

"Reid!" Hotch called as he watched Reid begin to buck in his sleep and struggle to breathe. Bruising began to bloom around Reid's throat and it look like a ring had appeared around Reid's throat. "Something is strangling him."

"Something is killing him," JJ panicked. "Reid!

* * *

Reid felt himself losing the battle to stay awake, Morgan was struggling with the dog that was trying to bite at his throat. He reached out to his protector but screeched as dark spots began to dance in front of him. "Nhnn!"

"Reid!" Morgan shouted as he grabbed the dog's jaws.

The Dark Sandman came forward with a knife.

"Leave him alone," Morgan yelled as he threw the dog against a table, he ignored the pain in his arm and tried to get to Reid, he cried out as another dog came out of no-where and sunk its teeth into leg, he fell to the floor and tried to kick the dog away.

Reid closed his eyes as the Dark Sandman went to stab him, he waited for the pain but it never came. He heard a thud and opened his eyes as the rope hanging him snapped, he fell to the floor and looked over to Morgan to see the dogs had disappeared. Blood covered Morgan's arm and leg. Looking up, Reid's eyes went wide as he took in the sight of the weak version of himself that'd been restrained to the chair earlier. "What the hell?" he croaked as he rubbed his neck.

The other version of himself had a crowbar in his hand and was standing over the Dark Sandman. He looked into Reid's eyes with anger in his eyes. "Who are you calling weak?!"

**Please review**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for all loving the ending on the last chapter, once I had that typed, I just adored it. Many of you asked about the other version of Reid, let's just say that things are not over yet in his mind. Things aren't as they seem. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're magnificent and you're my beautiful wonderkins. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid stumbled to his feet and stared at the other version of himself, he glanced down and found the Dark Sandman unconscious on the floor with blood coming down his forehead and out of the back too. He returned to face the other Reid. "How did you get out of the chair?"

"You needed help and I had to come and save your pathetic ass. If you die, I die and I can't let that happen. Handcuffs can just disappear with a single thought."

"What is going on?" Morgan groaned as he leaned against a wooden beam, he clutched his leg and breathed through the pain. Reid tried to go to Morgan but the other Reid grabbed his arm and threw him back against a wall.

"Why did you do that?!"

"Back off," Morgan warned the one who had just thrown back his friend. "You may be another part of Reid but I'll kick your ass if you touch him."

"You really thought I was the weak one," the other Reid cackled before advancing towards Morgan, he gripped the bloody leg and squeezed it hard. Morgan let out a cry and tried to swing for him, he missed and landed on the floor.

"Stop it!" Reid yelled. This other version of himself was sadistic and hurting his best friend.

"You're right," the sadistic Reid smirked. "This is a conversation best had in private. Derek can go and visit the other users."

"Users?" Morgan gasped.

"Wake up, Derek," he ordered before punching Morgan in the face.

Reid panicked when Morgan disappeared in a wisp of blue smoke, the other version of himself rose to his feet and faced him. "Now, we're alone."

"What are you?"

"I'm the one that will run the show from now on," he smiled. Reid tried to move but found himself pinned to the wall, he struggled to no avail. "Oh, little Spencer, you're the weak one and I'm taking control."

* * *

Morgan gasped as he woke up, he hissed as he felt pressure on his arm and leg. "Ah, dammit!"

"He's awake," Garcia smiled happily. "Morgan, don't move too much, you're bleeding. Did you get attacked by dogs?"

"Two of them," he nodded. "Is Reid awake?"

"No, he isn't," Blake answered. "What happened? You began bleeding from dog bites and Reid began gasping for air."

"Sandman put a noose around his neck and tried to hang him, two dogs came after me to stop me helping Reid. We got saved by another version of Reid."

"Another version?" Rossi asked in a confused voice.

"His head is a weird place and a frightening one," he explained through the pain. "I think Reid is in danger, we need to wake him up."

"Is the Dark Sandman still after him?"

"I think he's dead," Morgan shook his head. "There was blood pouring from his head. I think Reid's in danger from himself."

* * *

"You didn't answer my question, what are you? What are you doing in my head?" Reid demanded.

"I've always been in your head, Spencer. There are lots of us here, all different and unique but together, we make you. You already met the crazy one of us, I saw you through his eyes but you didn't get a chance to meet the others. We are part of you and have been since the day mother gave birth to us. I'm the part of you that is sick of being locked away. When the Sandman came, I changed my prison and made it a trap for you. Want to guess who I am?"

"I keep a lot of things buried."

"Don't I know," the other version rolled his eyes. "I'm the part of you that relished killing Tobias Hankel with that gun, I was that feeling you had when Diane Turner came so near to you, I was the one who would have wrapped my hands around her pretty little neck and squeezed till she turned blue. You keep me locked away like I'm an animal. I suppose I am in a way. That lust you feel, that temptation to take a woman and show her what a man you are. That's me, Spencer. I'm every little dark thing you keep down and hidden. Let's just say, I'm the dark Spencer that the world is just waiting to get a taste of."

"I don't think like that," Reid shook his head. "I don't have those thoughts."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," dark Spencer mocked. "You have evil thoughts, you just let those annoying good ones get in the way. Remember the football field and every bully before and after that. I almost got out then but I got blocked. You're such a bloody goody two shoes. Mom holds us back, Dad deserves a good couple of punches and the team needs to stop taking advantage of us."

"They're family, they don't take advantage of me," Reid snapped back. "Our mother needs help."

"She's not worth our help, Spencer," the dark version sighed. "We sacrificed so much for her, all she did was repay us with hate."

"She's ill."

"Is that why you had that dark little thought when you were twelve? I was there that day. You thought that mommy was in too much pain and if you just put a few extra pills in, her pain would end."

"I was twelve," Reid argued. "I had just gone through a traumatic experience at school and I wasn't thinking straight, I barely thought that."

Reid hated this version of himself, he cursed himself for even choosing the middle door and coming into the trap. He glanced to the Dark Sandman and knew he was dead, a large pool of blood had now gathered around his head. No-one could have survived that.

"Do you want to know when I was truly born, Spencer?" the other version grinned. "I was a small part of you till the age of sixteen. I know what that professor did, I became more than a small little entity after that day."

"Nothing happened!" Reid screamed. The other version fell to the floor as a table scraped across the floor on its own and smashed into him. Falling from the wall, Reid looked over to a door across the room. He went over but quickly made sure the Sandman was dead by ripping off the mask. He saw cold eyes staring at him and felt relief that one threat had gotten defeated.

"Bastard," the evil Reid screamed causing him to leave the Sandman and run to the door, he ripped it open and closed it behind him. "You can't run, I'll catch you!"

He found himself back in the corridor and ran down it, he turned the corner to hear a door smash open behind him. Reid knew he was beginning to realise how strange his mind actually was and how dangerous he could be. He picked a door at random and ran inside, he closed it behind him and hoped he could stay here for a while. He turned around and found yet another version of himself. This one was laughing as he jumped on a trampoline, it was only then Reid realised he was now in a garden.

"There you are! I'm so happy to see you," the other version laughed as he jumped on the trampoline. "I know what's happening and I can cheer you up, I can cheer anyone up. I'm excited about the sunny sky and about Garcia making cupcakes when you wake up. How great is life!"

"What are you?"

"I'm the happy part of you, Dumbo," the other version giggled cheerily.

**Please review**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I could do with a smile today as I've had a rubbish day which ended with a little cry on the couch, sometimes the world just isn't fair. I welcome jokes in the reviews as I need a laugh. I hope you like this chapter and I'm happy you like the direction that I've gone in. It's inspired by my favourite quote. 'Monsters are real. Ghosts are too, they live inside us, and sometimes, they win.' - Stephen King.  
**

**I just love the idea of Reid having to fight all the monsters inside himself. I love even more that MGG actually said the quote in the show. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, they're brilliant and I can't thank you enough for the wonderful response you've given this story. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

"You're the happy version of me?" Reid questioned as he took in the other version of himself.

"Don't worry," the other version smirked. "He can't find you for some time. I don't like him either, he makes us all feel cold and wrong. As long as my family is safe and each day arrives, I stay happy. I come out when we play with Henry, play drinking games or prank Morgan. I have this perfect prank planned for him."

Reid couldn't help but chuckle at this part of him, he wanted this part to come out more often. The happy one jumped down from the trampoline and walked up to him, he wore bright colours with a flower pinned to his chest. The bright colours came from a bright blue shirt, a red vest and jeans. "Why are you dressed so brightly?"

"Henry likes to draw us in bright colours and these colours are more cheerful than black, too many people wear black clothing."

"You wear it when you're sad," Reid sighed.

"You're sad too often, especially after Maeve died. I loved her too, she made everything better in here when she was alive through her wonderful words and witty remarks about Thomas Merton. Things got very dark in here when she died and the sad one of us visited us all more and more."

"There's a sad version of me too."

"He doesn't like to smile or wear bright colours that Henry likes, he cries and cries when something happens that makes the heart ache or the mind quiver. I try to cheer him up but it never works. It's better if we all stay away from each other. Things got difficult when the Dilaudid began to play tricks with us all."

"What about the Dilaudid?"

"It made us all different, even me and my smile. You shouldn't smile because you're high, that isn't true happiness and you know that is true. The drugs didn't bring you happiness, sadness or any kind of real emotion, it broke everything down to a simple state and none of us could do what we're meant to do. I found happiness for a few seconds but it was from that disgusting stuff, the sad one of us didn't cry or do anything, he just sat as still as stone. The bad one chasing you tried to take control then but he failed when you gave up the drugs. I'm so happy that you gave them up."

Reid nodded and took a moment to think, he was talking to himself in his own mind about the drugs that had almost ruined his life. He imagined that this would make a great Twilight Zone episode.

"I love the Twilight Zone," the other version grinned.

"How did you know I was thinking about the Twilight Zone?"

"Great minds think alike," the other version shrugged before putting a finger on each of Reid's cheeks and pulling them up to make Reid smile. "You need to smile more often, girls like your smile."

* * *

Morgan's head began to bob as he struggled to stay awake, he didn't want to leave his friend after what had happened.

"You need to get to the hospital," Hotch shook his head. "Rossi, Blake and JJ, help me get him down to one of the SUV's. If we take the elevator down and then go out into parking, no-one should see us. I'm not in the mood to answer questions about this."

"No," Morgan struggled to talk. "Have to stay with him, I promised I would protect him and keep him safe."

"You can't do that if you bleed to death," Rossi snapped as he tightened the towels around Morgan's wounds. "On three, we lift him up. Morgan, you'll have to use your good leg where you can. Garcia, take care of Reid and call us if he wakes up or if anything else happens. One, two, three."

They all lifted Morgan up and supported him as they quickly took him out of the room. Garcia looked down at Reid and stroked his cheek. "Oh, sweetie, please wake up."

She checked his breathing and all signs pointed to him still being trapped in a deep sleep, all she wanted was for her baby boy to wake up and smile at her. He'd been through enough and deserved some of her top-secret caramel hot chocolate. Her eyes traveled to the dream tea that she had made. She picked up the pot and poured some into a glass. The others wouldn't be back for a while and she felt helpless just sitting next to him and watching him suffer.

She put her hand to Reid's head and pulled a few small strands of his hair out, as she put them in the dream tea she took a deep breath and took one last look at him. "I'm coming to help you, baby boy."

She put the glass to her lips and drank down the tea, she expected a bad taste but managed to drink it easily. "That doesn't taste that bad."

Her eyes closed and she barely realised she was falling asleep as her body slumped down, her head landing on Reid's chest and her arms staying by her side, sweet slumber took her quickly.

* * *

"Garcia's here!" the happy version of Reid shouted before running past the original Reid. Turning around, he found himself shocked to find Garcia standing behind him. The happy version brought her into a hug and had a grin almost the size of a rainbow on his face.

"Garcia, what are you doing here?" Reid demanded as he walked over.

"Why are there two of you?" Garcia asked as the happy version still hugged her, Reid stepped forward and pried his other self off Garcia.

"Sorry, Garcia," the happy one apologised. "You're just the most amazing, wonderful and beautiful person in the world, you've made me smile so many times and brought so much joy into my life."

"Garcia, this is the happy part of my personality, this is all difficult and strange to understand but I'll explain properly later. What are you doing here?"

"You aren't waking up," she said.

"What was the team thinking when they sent you in here? Garcia, this is a dangerous place, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't get hurt, I have you to protect me, Reid. The team doesn't know I'm doing this, they're taking Morgan to the hospital."

"Is he okay?" both Reid and the happy Reid asked in unison.

Garcia took a moment to absorb the strangeness of the situation before answering. "He's lost a lot of blood from the bite wounds, we had to practically drag him away from you. He'll be okay, Morgan's a survivor and he doesn't give up easily."

The happy Reid took Garcia and twirled her around, surprising her. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

"She loves to laugh," he told Reid.

"Focus," Reid said in frustration to the other Reid. "You're like a kid who found a treasure chest full of candy."

"How great would that be!"

"I like this version of you," Garcia smiled before pinching the happy Reid's cheek.

All three jumped when they heard a banging echo through the entire garden.

The happy version lost his smile and held Garcia's hand. "It's time for you both to run."

**Please review**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm doing better today but not much better as I totally messed up sending an important document off, I forgot to sign it and need it back to send it off again. Your reviews have kept me going today and I really appreciate them all. The next few chapters are going to kick ass and I'm so excited to write them. I'm going to have some funny moments in the next chapter. We'll see a side we've never seen in our Reid before. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're beautiful, amazing readers who I love for being there and love for reading my stories. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

"Where are we going?" Reid asked the happy version on himself as they ran towards a small forest not far from the trampoline. The happy part of himself was holding Garcia's hand and leading her to the forest. He stopped just before the edge of the forest and looked back as the banging got louder. He turned to Garcia and gave her a loving hug, he came away and looked into her eyes. "Never stop being who you are, Garcia. We depend on you more than you know."

Reid and his other self exchanged a glance, one that Garcia took note of. She looked back to the happy version of her baby boy and touched his cheek. "Don't worry, I'll try to bring you more happiness."

"Please do," the other version grinned before he walked over and pushed Reid toward the forest with Garcia. "Run and you'll find yourself someplace safe for a while. I'll try to hold him up. You need to trap him or you'll never escape from him. Lock him away for good."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

His other self came up to him and took him aside for a moment, no smile gracing his lips this time. "You do it for her. She is our best friend and she is one of my favourite people in the world, she's never gone against us and trust me, she's in danger here. Just not from who you think. Your memories can hurt her just as much as they can hurt you. Now, go! Don't you dare let anything happen to her."

Reid nodded for a moment, his thoughts in a daze. He went back to Garcia and took her hand, they began to run through the forest.

* * *

The happy version of Reid quickly made his way back to the trampoline, he watched as the dark version came marching towards him. "WHERE ARE THEY?!" he screamed.

"What an awful noise you make?" the nice Reid smirked.

"I can hurt you," the dark one growled. "Just like I'm going to hurt him."

"Your threats are empty, little shadow. You can't kill him and you can't harm me, not yet anyway."

"Why do you protect a weakling like him? The sad one has more power than you, you could join me and I'd bring you lots of happiness."

"The kind of happiness that I will never embrace. He's capable of letting you out but I know he never will. He doesn't like killing and he will never give into the dark thoughts that you whisper into his mind. I believe in him, he's stronger than you. You'll be back in a stronger and bigger cage soon enough and I'm sure he'll double the chains on that one. You can't hurt me because I'm part of him. None of us can harm each other without doing damage to us all. Chase them all you want but you'll never win."

"We'll see about that," the dark one snapped angrily before going back to the metal door he had come in through. "Oh, I'm not able to kill you but you'll be the first one I corrupt."

"We'll see about that."

The door slammed shut leaving him alone in his garden again. He walked over to the trampoline but didn't feel the urge to jump anymore. They were all in danger if the dark one took control. Happiness came from helping people, he had to help the leader of them all, the one who brought them all together.

* * *

"Reid, what is going on?" Garcia asked as they walked through the forest. "I feel like someone just slipped me ecstasy."

"How would you know how ecstasy feels?" he questioned.

"Another discussion for another time," she said to change the subject. "Reid, who are we running from?"

"There is a part of me that has all my dark thoughts, every fleeting thought of revenge, every lust, every cruel notion that I would never act upon. Everyone has these feelings, Garcia, no-one can deny that. I thought he was the weak one but he isn't, he's every bad thing about me and now he's coming after me because he wants full control when I'm awake."

"There isn't anything bad about you," Garcia said.

"There is something bad in everyone," he shook his head. "He's the one not letting me wake up. I need to lock him back up."

"Why not kill him?"

"Could you kill part of your soul? I'm not stupid, if I kill him, I hurt myself. The other one feared him but I never saw the fear of death in him."

"I wish we saw that happy Reid more often."

"I wish I could let him out more often but I can't."

"Why?"

"I've been hurt too much in my life to ever let him come out more than he needs to. He'll get hurt because the world isn't a kind place."

* * *

Hotch walked back into the BAU, he made his way up the stairs with bags under his eyes and a weary feeling in his bones. The others had sent him back to keep an eye on Reid and to support Garcia. As he opened the door, he felt horror run through him.

He ran to the couch and picked Garcia up from Reid's chest, he sat her up against the back of it and took her face in his hands. "Garcia, wake up!"

He picked up the glass on the floor and looked back to her. "What did you do?"

* * *

As they left the forest, they came to a small shack. "Reid, what is this?"

"I'm not sure, it's not a memory."

They walked to the cabin and pushed open the door, as they walked in, they found another version of Reid sitting with a picture in his hand. He put the photo down and walked over. "I wondered when you would get here."

"Which one are you?" Garcia asked.

Within seconds, the new version had his arms around Garcia and had dipped her down, he smiled at her and winked. "I'm the sexy one."

**Please review**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't think that this is my best chapter but I'm a bit under the weather due to some stressful things that I think have made me tired. I'm not crying anymore which is a good thing. I am so having a chill out writing weekend. I'm glad you all liked the ending of the last chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're beautiful and you are beautiful angels in my mind. Thank you!  
**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Garcia felt a little flushed as she felt Reid's hand touch her bottom, she grabbed his hand from behind her and got back to her feet. "Get your hands off my butt."

"Oh, god," Reid said as he hid his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Garcia."

"Why be sorry?" the sexy version pouted. "She has a wonderful arse and you know it too, Spencer. You've only stared at it three times in the time you've known her but I was there when you snuck a look."

"You checked me out," Garcia said as she turned to Reid.

"Three times in over the ten years that I've known you and each time you were wearing a gown or dress for a special occasion. I meant nothing by it, Garcia," Reid admitted. "As soon as I realised I was doing it, I looked away."

"He blocked me," the other version huffed. Reid took in the other version of himself, his hair had gotten spiked into a bed head style, he wore a fitted purple t-shirt with black jeans and black boots. The other one noticed him looking. "I know, I look ready to take on the women of the world but you never let me out. You don't know how frustrating it is to constantly be kept locked away."

The other version walked over to Garcia and pinched her bottom. Reid stepped back as Garcia, in one quick and swift motion, grabbed the other Reid's ear and put him to his knees. "Ow, ow, ow," the sexy one repeated in pain as Garcia kept hold of his ear.

"I know that my baby boy has much more respect for me than you do," Garcia scolded. "You're part of him but that doesn't mean you rule him. I know every man has desires and you seem to be all of Reid's pent-up desires. I'm going to let you up but you will apologise to me for pinching my bottom and then treat me with respect."

She let go of his ear and watched as he got back to his feet. "Now, what do you say, young man?"

"I'm sorry for pinching your butt and I'll restrain myself as much as I can."

Reid couldn't help the snort of laughter that passed through his lips. Garcia turned to him. "You say sorry too. He's still part of you."

"Sorry, Garcia."

Garcia walked forward and looked around the cabin, it was very simple but elegant. She stopped when she saw a picture on the unit where the other version had originally been sitting. As she took the picture into her hand, she looked up to both versions of Reid. "You still lust after a ghost."

Reid walked forward and took hold of the picture, he smiled as he stroked his hand down it. Maeve would always be beautiful to him, he missed her so much and knew he would forever love a ghost. He turned to the other version of himself and handed over the picture. "I guess you miss her too."

"I'm the lustful part of you, I do miss her, no matter which version you talk to, we all miss her because she brought us all something new. Love and lust are close to each other, the other one misses her the most."

They watched as the other version walked over to a door and opened it. They walked forward to find another version dressed completely in black with a large fringe covering his face, almost hiding him from the world, sitting on a bed with his knees to his chest.

"Who is this?" Garcia asked.

"He doesn't talk much anymore," the sexy version sighed. "He just sits in the corner, alone with what he has of Maeve. He's the part of you that loves, the happy one and the other parts of you, we're picking up his slack at the moment. When Maeve was alive and when you fell in love, he was all in red with a big smile on his face. He became this the moment we watched her die. He's your broken heart."

Reid walked to the door and closed it. "I don't think I'm ready to face him, not yet. I think we should move on."

* * *

Hotch covered Garcia up with a blanket and put a pillow behind her head. JJ was on her way back to the BAU to help him, he looked up and found a stray tear coming out of the corner of Reid's eye. Hotch brought out a tissue and wiped the stay tear away. "I hope you're both okay in there."

* * *

Garcia held Reid's hand as they left the cabin and walked through another forest. "Why don't you ever talk about how you feel?"

"It's hard," he shrugged. "I love you all, you're my family but I don't think I'll ever be ready to tell you all everything."

"I'm here," Garcia offered. "When we get out of here, we are going to have a cup of hot chocolate and talk about some things."

Reid was about respond when he felt something slice the side of his thigh, his leg buckled and he hit the floor, he looked up to see that an arrow had cut into his leg but only grazed him. Garcia turned around to see a dark version of Reid that looked evil and messy. The other version was about to fire but saw her and hesitated. Garcia grabbed Reid and helped him run through the forest. They came to a metal door standing in front of them, she opened it and helped him through.

"Make sure you lock it," Reid said quickly.

* * *

Hotch grabbed a wipe and began to clean the cut that had appeared on Reid's leg. He wrapped it with a bandage and made sure that it would hold. JJ was holding Garcia's hand and had checked her over for any injury. "Why would Garcia do this?"

"She cares about Reid, like we all do, she just wanted to take care of him. I'll be having serious words with her when she wakes up."

* * *

Garcia put an adhesive pad over Reid's leg. "There you go. I like things I want just popping into my hand," she smiled. Her mind travelled back to moment the dark version of Reid had pointed the arrow at her, she knew that he'd had his chance to fire but he had hesitated and given her a strange look.

"Reid, he had his chance to hurt me but he didn't. Why didn't he fire?"

"I don't know," Reid said honestly. "We need to move, he'll be come back soon and I don't think he'll miss this time."

Garcia helped him to his feet, he let go of her and began to limp forward with her at his side. "We need a new door."

"This one," Garcia pointed before she pulled Reid toward a blue coloured door. They walked in and found themselves in a nursery, Reid looked around and found himself confused, he didn't recognise this place.

"Oh," Garcia cooed as she walked over to the corner. Reid watched as she brought a small toddler into her arms. "Who's this cutie?"

"That's me."

**Please review**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. This only has a few chapters left on it I'm afraid to tell you all but I promise that they'll be the most kick ass chapters in the world. I'm happy about Criminal Minds getting a tenth season, another year of our genius isn't bad in my book. I actually surprised at the reception that this story has received as some were against a supernatural themed story. I'm so happy that you all like this though. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're beautiful and awesome. Thank you!  
**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid walked over to Garcia, not taking his eyes off the toddler version of himself that was now smiling at Garcia and moving about in her arms. "Why would there be a little version of me?"

"You're so cute," Garcia grinned happily as she held little Reid. "I've never seen a picture of you when you were this age. Your eyes are just wonderful and big."

"My mom always called me her little chocolate button, she loves my big brown eyes," Reid smiled. "I'm just not sure why he's here."

Garcia looked around the room, she found nothing but teddy bears, toys and other things that you would expect a young toddler to have. "I think he's your innocence, everything you were before you became aware of what life held. The door was blue and he's surrounded by everything a child needs or could want. We all have that part of us inside that represents are innocence. I think this adorable little man in my arms is your innocence. Oh, he's just so cute, I could hold him forever."

"Gar-Gar," the little Reid giggled before leaning against Garcia's chest.

"He knows who I am?" Garcia said in confusion. "He looks barely a year and a half old."

"He's still part of me," Reid explained gently. "Every part that we've met and will meet knows who you are. I apologise again for the behaviour of my lust counterpart."

"Reid, you're a man, every man lusts. Just promise never to pinch my bottom."

"I would never pinch your bottom," he smirked. "Morgan, however, I wouldn't put it past him."

Garcia giggled and shifted the little one in her arms. Her eyes strayed to the large crack in the wall, it didn't look normal. "Why is that there?"

As the younger Reid looked at the crack, he burst out crying and leaned against Garcia. "Hey there," Garcia began to soothe as she turned away from the crack and swayed the little Reid from side to side. "Hey, calm down, it's okay. You're safe with me."

Reid walked over to the crack, he reached up and heard his younger self scream and screech louder as his hand hovered over the crack. He touched the crack and gasped as his mind flooded with memories and sounds.

_'No, please don't do this'_ his own voice cried inside his head. He ripped his hand away and felt tears running down his cheeks. Turning around, he met Garcia's worried gaze.

"Reid, what happened?" Garcia asked as she began to sooth the little Reid.

"Nothing," he lied. "Nothing happened, just a little jolt. I'm okay."

"You're lying."

"There are many secrets in my head and that is one you'll never see," Reid breathed gently. "Don't push this, Garcia."

"I won't at the moment but we will talk about it. I'm not an idiot, I know what that crack means, something tried to break through your innocence but judging by the crack, your innocence remained intact. Something horrible must have happened to you to do that much damage. Little Reid here was crying bloody murder when you touched that crack."

"Something bad did happen but something bad is happening now, let's get out of this situation before we explore things that happened long ago."

Garcia accepted Reid's logic but she wasn't going to let Reid run away from something that clearly scared him. She could help giggling as the little Reid reached up his hands and touched her cheek. She looked down and shifted him to one arm, she used her free hand and stroked his little cheeks. "I just want to take you with me."

Reid walked over and held out his arms. "Pass him here."

Garcia kissed the little Reid's forehead before giving the little one over to Reid.

"You're lucky," he sighed as he held his younger self. "You stay like this with no worries in the world. I just wanted to say sorry for almost letting what happened break into this place. I hope I'm able to keep more monsters from trying to break into here again."

Little Reid sucked his thumb and leaned against Reid's chest. After a little while, the little one fell asleep against him.

"I wish I could be this little sometimes, I had no worries or fears back then."

Garcia came over and scooped the little version of Reid into her arms, she walked over to a crib and laid him down in it, staying for a moment to take in one last sight of Reid's innocence. Reid opened the blue door and limped out of it again, she followed after him quickly and shut the door behind her. She turned around to follow but let out a small scream as Reid went flying backwards and hit the floor.

"Reid!" Garcia yelled as she ran to him. As she lifted her head, her eyes found the dark version of her baby boy. She watched as he raised his hand to hurt Reid again. "No!"

She stepped in front of Reid and blocked the dark version from hurting him again.

"Get out of my way!" the dark version screamed. "I'm taking control."

"I won't let you hurt him. I know my baby boy has some darkness inside of him but I'll never let that darkness take over him."

The dark version put his hand down and stared at her. "Move."

"Why won't you hurt me?" she questioned. "You had an opportunity to shoot me with an arrow but you didn't, you put it down and you just looked at me. Why did you do that? You could throw me about just like you did to Reid but you won't. Why?"

"I can't!" he shouted.

"Why?" Reid moaned as he got to his feet. "You hurt Morgan."

The dark version stared at them with eyes full of ice and fury. "She's done nothing wrong against us, I have nothing against her and in my way, I choose to protect her."

"Protect me?"

"When Jason Clark Battle shot you, I had a field day in Reid's mind. All the dark things he thought about doing to Jason that day, they came from me. If we had gotten our hands on him, he would have paid dearly for hurting with you, he would have paid with blood. I'm the part that fuels his revenge. I won't hurt you, Garcia, but I'm taking control and I can still hurt him."

"You aren't hurting anyone," a voice called from behind the dark one.

The dark version turned around to see the happy version of Reid behind him. "What are you doing out of your shitty garden?" he snarled.

"We're not letting you take control," the broken-hearted version said sadly as he appeared from around the corner. "I've lost enough and I want you to leave us all alone. You don't belong with the rest of us."

"Why do you let him rule us?" the dark one seethed as he pointed to Reid. "He's weak."

"If he's weak, then you are too," the lust version of Reid spoke up. "We're all as weak as each other. You're going back to where you belong, in a small cage with big bars and thick chains."

More versions of Reid came out of their rooms and stood in front of Garcia and the original Reid.

"Reid, what's happening?" Garcia asked.

"I know what I have to do," Reid said, his voice calm and full of clarity.

**Please review**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone, here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are two chapters left after this I'm afraid and then this will come to an end. I have a cracking headache and I apologise if this chapter isn't great, I had an MRI today and I forgot how loud those buggers are, the ear protection isn't really that effective. I tell you all this, you all keep me sane. I've dealt with some bad things this week and you've all been so wonderful offering me advice, that goes to all my readers over all three of my current stories. Thank you for keeping me from going mad. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
**

**Sensitive subject matter in this chapter on abuse**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're just amazing and I adore you all so much, I could just hug you forever. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

"Garcia, stay here," Reid ordered gently as he rushed forward to join the other versions of himself as they continued to converge on the dark version of himself. He walked to him and stared him in the eye. "You're everything that I hate and I will never let you take control. My entire mind is fighting against you, every part of me is fighting to stay in control of what they're meant to have control over. Love, lust, happiness and every other aspect that is standing around you knows what is about to happen and so do you."

The dark version tried to punch him but the broken-hearted one grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. All the other versions grabbed the dark version and lifted him off the ground.

"You all know where to take him," said Reid. "I'll do the rest."

"NO!" the dark one screamed. "Stop it! I can give us the freedom we all want, don't let him control you."

"We are him," they all spoke in unison. "We already have freedom."

Reid watched as they dragged him to a dark room, he walked to the door and thought about chains. Within a second, chains wrapped themselves around the dark version's wrists and ankles, the chains tightened and restricted his movements.

"You can't keep me in here forever," he snarled. "I'll get out and I'll take control, I know the dark thoughts you have in your heart and I know you will never fully be able to push them down. Eventually, they will all leave you. Your precious team will leave you and you'll cry for me to come out. I'LL GET OUT OF HERE!"

"I'd rather die than become you," Reid confidently said. "You'll stay in here till the day I die and you won't come out a minute before that. Evil is a poison and I won't let that poison taint who I am. I'm going to keep you in this room and make sure that door has big locks and thick chains. One thing I will say is this. Thank you for not hurting Garcia, even you know that we aren't capable of ever hurting her."

"I could make you so much stronger," the dark version growled.

"No, you could make me so much weaker and I like being strong, you're the weak one no matter what you say."

Reid closed his eyes and imagined a light in his head, when he opened his eyes the light was in front of him. He picked it up by a small handle and put it in the corner.

"What is that for?" the dark version questioned suspiciously.

"That's for you," Reid answered. "No-one deserves to stay locked up in darkness, we all need a little light."

Reid ignored the screams that filled the room as he stepped back and closed the heavy metal door, he shut it and slid across metal bar after metal bar, when he finished with that, he stepped back and closed his eyes.

"Lots of locks and thick chains," he whispered to himself repeatedly. The clanging noise of locks clicking into place filled his ears along with the sound of thick chains rattling and twisting their way around the door. Opening his eyes, he sighed with relief at the sight of the reinforced door, he could no longer hear the screams of his dark counterpart.

"Well done," a voice came from behind him. Turning to face them, he smiled at all the different versions of himself.

"Thank you, all of you, for helping me, I couldn't have done this without you."

"We only did it because you gave us the strength too," his happy counterpart grinned. "Just remember that we're all here. Just never doubt how complicated the mind can truly be. All of us make up who you are, try to think about us all equally and enjoy us too. Especially me."

Reid laughed and smiled as Garcia came past all of them and took his hand. "Don't worry, boys, I'll be here to bring out all his good sides and help him when the ones that hurt come around."

She went over to the broken-hearted version and rubbed his shoulder. "We'll get you wearing red again. I'll help fix you."

"I'd like that," he smiled at her before slinking away and leaning against the wall.

"We all have to go now," the lusty version smiled. "Take care."

Reid blinked and found all the over versions of himself had disappeared. He felt two gentle arms wrapped around him and bring him into a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, baby boy, you fought against him and won."

"I couldn't have done it without you," he smiled as he hugged her. He came away and stared at her. "I have to show you something."

Holding her hand, he led her down the corridor to a chained and bolted door, the last of the three doors and the one he had not opened yet. He let go of her hand and walked up to it, he touched it and let out a deep sigh. "I'm not going to open this door because I don't want to go through that memory again. This has one of the most frightening moments of my life and one that I'm scared to share with you."

"Reid, what happened to you? You can tell me."

"There's a reason why I don't like people who I don't know touching me or shaking my hand, there is a reason why I like things being kept in order. When I was sixteen, someone hurt me."

"How did they hurt you?"

"It was a professor," he began to explain. "He offered to take me out for a drink and discuss some new chemistry papers being released, I'd known him for a few months and I jumped at the chance to talk to him. Back then, I craved attention from teachers. We spoke at a little place, I had a coke and he had a whiskey. I had another coke but I started to feel sick after finishing it off. He offered to take me home and I agreed. He drugged me with something in the coke, pulled over the car and he, um, forced himself on me."

Garcia surged forward and brought him into a strong hug. "I'm so sorry."

He leaned against her shoulder. "I've never told anyone what he did."

"Didn't you go to the police?"

"No, I couldn't face people touching me and asking me things after what he did. When he finished, he left me in the backseat, frozen with fear and took me home. I went back to his classes after that and never said another word to him. I gave in my work and that was it. I was a kid with an adult's mind, I knew back then that what he had done was wrong but I could barely process it with everything going on in my life."

"Where is he now?" she asked.

"Dead," Reid answered. "He died three years ago. Please, don't tell the others. I'm not ready for them to know yet."

"I won't tell, I promise. Oh, I don't understand how anyone could hurt an angel like you."

"I know how lucky I am to have an angel like you on my shoulder," he smiled at her. "Thank you for helping me in here."

"It's my job to protect you. I think it's time we wake up, the others are probably worrying about us."

"I think it's time to wake up too."

* * *

Hotch sat with JJ, both keeping a close eye on the two sleeping members of their team. He brushed a hand through his hair and looked back down to Reid, he gasped and then let out a big grin when he saw Reid's big brown eyes open. His grin grew even larger when he saw Garcia's eyes open too.

"Hey, Hotch," Reid sighed. "Sorry I overslept."

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	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next chapter is the last chapter so tomorrow's update is the last one for this story. I love writing this and I do have a shaky sequel planned if anyone's interested. Let me know if you would want a sequel. I'm sorry if I worried everyone by mentioning my MRI yesterday. It's just to double-check that I don't have any problems with my brain or spine as I have nerve trouble in my hands and legs which leads to my bad hands happening. I'm okay, nothing life threatening. Namira, this is for you in particular. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
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**Thank you so much for all the reviews, you're sweet as chocolate and as wonderful as always. Thank you!  
**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Reid waited patiently as the doctor treated the cut to his leg and the bruising around his throat, he had some other bruising around his body but he knew that had come from being thrown to the ground by his darker self. The others had not asked him any questions yet and he was very relieved about that. Hotch had brought both Garcia and Reid to the hospital but Garcia didn't need any hospital treatment. He winced as the doctor continued to work on his leg and was happy when the numbing agent got applied to his leg.

"Now you shouldn't feel a thing," the young doctor smiled at him as she got ready to stitch the wound shut. He listened as Hotch reprimanded Garcia next door and felt horrible that he was responsible for her being told off by Hotch.

Hotch wasn't angry about Garcia breaking the rules and Reid knew that, he was angry at her for going into a situation that was dangerous and that might have cost herself her life. Reid smiled when he saw Garcia hug Hotch through the blinds.

"Will I be able to go after this?" he asked the doctor.

"Yes," she answered. "It seems you're not keen on hospitals. I'm comfortable with discharging with you but I will give you this advice. Get some rest, let your shoulder, nose and other injuries heal before trying to do anything strenuous."

"I just want to check on my friend."

"What is he in here for?" she asked.

"He got attacked by some dogs, he lost some blood and I just want to go and make sure he's okay."

* * *

Morgan still felt light-headed as he laid in the hospital bed, the pain in his arm and leg was now nothing but a dull ache due to the morphine drip they had given to him. Rossi was with him at his side but Blake had gone to check on Reid. The moment he had heard about Reid, he had finally let himself relax. His best friend was safe and now free from the murderous and unholy man who had tried to kill him. He would never forget seeing Reid hanging from the roof, gasping for air and struggling to stay alive. While Reid would probably be able to leave the hospital straight away, the doctors were forcing him to stay in for at least the next week due to severity of his injuries.

A knock came at the door, he grinned as he watched Garcia push Reid into the room in a wheelchair.

"Hey, Morgan," Reid smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Woozy and a little light-headed but I'm so damn happy to see you awake. Is it really over? What kept you from waking up?"

"Rossi, could you give us three a few minutes alone? I need to discuss some things with them."

"I've craved a coffee for the last ten minutes," Rossi nodded.

"I will not pester you with any profiling questions for a week if you bring one back for me," Reid said.

"Deal," Rossi chuckled. "I'll be back soon."

Reid looked back to Morgan as Garcia took a seat on the edge of the bed. "The one that grabbed your leg and punched you is the part of me that holds in all my evil and dark thoughts. He pursued me and tried to take control of me. I have some pretty good aspects of myself though."

"What do you mean?"

"Different parts of his personality guided him," Garcia jumped in to explain. "The happy part of himself, the lustful part of himself and other parts helped protect us and in the end, they fought for us and helped our main baby boy here lock away the evil part of himself. His lust counterpart needs to learn to keep his hands to himself though. He pinched my bottom, Morgan."

"What?" Morgan laughed gently. "Are you serious?"

"Let's leave all this for another time," Reid raised his hand. "That part merely represents the feelings all men have for women. Garcia is just my best friend. The Dark Sandman is dead and the dark part of me is now locked away for good. I can now sleep without fear of being hurt or killed."

"Baby girl," Morgan said. "We will be having discussions about you going inside Reid's head without back up."

"Hotch already reprimanded me. All of the team would have done the same. Turns out that he did need my help."

"She saved my life," Reid sighed before taking her hand.

"How?" Morgan wondered.

"No part of him could hurt me while I was in there, not even his dark self, they all wanted to protect me from anything that could hurt me."

"I could never hurt her, Morgan. She's never done anything against me and she has always been there for me. You will agree with me when I say that Garcia is one of the most innocent and wonderful people in the world."

"That she is," Morgan agreed.

Garcia got to her feet and kissed Reid's cheek. "Sweetie, I think you need to tell him what you told me. You know that he'll understand."

"Tell me what?"

Reid bit his lips before nodding and taking a shaky breath. "Can you give us some time alone, Garcia?"

"Of course I can."

Garcia left the room leaving them both alone.

* * *

"Kid, what do you need to tell me?"

"There were three doors inside my head. One contained Maeve but we changed that and turned it into a memory that could bring me happiness instead of pain. The second was Tobias and that when a bit awry with the arrival of my dark counterpart. I never showed you what was behind the third door. I didn't show Garcia, that door is staying closed in my head."

"Reid, just tell me what was behind the door."

"Before today, I had never told anyone what happened when I was sixteen. I was in college," Reid said, tears beginning to well in his eyes. "One of the professors offered to talk to me about some new chemistry papers coming out. I thought I could trust him but it turned out he didn't want me for my mind. We went out for some drinks, he drugged my soda and I accepted his offer to take me home. He pulled over the car and I was too weak to fight him when he pulled me into the backseat."

"No," Morgan shook his head as his own tears began to cloud his eyes. "No, not you, kid. You're innocent. Please say that he didn't do what I think he did."

"I knew what he was doing," Reid sniffed before wiping tears from his cheeks. "I couldn't stop him and it really hurt. I pleaded with him not to do it and then for him to stop. He put his hand over my mouth and continued till he finished. He left me in the backseat and took me home. I was still woozy and weakened from the drug so he dragged me to the porch of my house and dumped me there. When I crawled into the house, mom was asleep from taking her medication. I still had to go to his classes but I never said another word to him. He died three years ago of a heart attack."

"Kid, can you come here?" Morgan asked as he patted the edge of the bed. Reid carefully leaned on his good leg and limped to the edge of the bed. He sat on the bed and looked at Morgan.

"I'm so sorry you went through that. Why didn't you ever tell me before this?"

"Nothing can change what happened," Reid shook his head. "You went through worse than me and you never told any of us till you felt comfortable and till you were ready to face your demons. I wasn't ready to face my darkness till Garcia helped me too. It's one night that I just want to forget. Please don't look at me differently, I don't think I can handle that."

"I won't look at you differently, I promise. It just hurts knowing that you went through that type of pain at the hands of someone who you trusted, it hurts even more knowing that he got away with it too."

"I was too afraid to go to the police and if I had gone to them, they would have taken my mother away and put me in a foster home. It just seemed better to bury what happened."

"I'm going to be here for you, kid. Always know that you aren't alone."

"I know," he nodded. "Thanks, Morgan."

* * *

Garcia stopped Rossi from entering the room when she saw Morgan and Reid giving each other an awkward one-armed hug. "What's going on in there?" Rossi asked.

"Some old wounds being healed, just leave it at that," she said gently.

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	16. Chapter 16

**Hey everyone, here is the last chapter for you all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry for not posting this yesterday, I didn't post anything on here yesterday as I wasn't very well and I've got a blooming cold. I made it all through winter and christmas without a cold and now I get one. I'm posting three updates tonight. The last chapter of this story, which I'm sad to see go but I'm now working on the sequel which will get posted tomorrow. I'm also posting updates for my other two fanfics. Sorry again for not updating yesterday. This is the last chapter and I hope it's okay. Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.  
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**Thank you so much for every single review you have all given to this story, I can't ever stop thanking you, you're wonderful and just the kindest people in the world to me. Thank you!**

**Enjoy and please review**

**All mistakes are my own**

Tracing his fingers along the scar on his shoulder and chest, he sighed and thought about the last three months and everything that happened since he had locked away the dark part of himself and told Morgan one of his most buried secrets. He knew deep down that he wasn't the same boy who had suffered in the backseat of the professor's car, he was a man now, a man who hunted down unsubs and people who wanted to hurt others like he'd been hurt when he was younger. As he buttoned his shirt, he smiled at the thought of the party he was about to attend. Rossi was throwing a small get together and he couldn't wait to relax, the last few cases hadn't been easy for them all. Morgan had recovered from his dog bites but had hated staying behind when the team had gone out into the field.

He grabbed his bag and put it over his shoulder. "Time to relax," he told his reflection.

* * *

"There you are," Garcia called before walking over to him, she almost fell when she got close to him but he reached out and caught her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Sorry, new heels," she shook her head before laughing at herself. She reached down and adjusted the shoe. "That's better. We've all been waiting for you."

"Sorry, I got a little held up."

She brought him away from the others.

"Are you okay? I know the last few cases haven't been easy and one or two, well, they matched what happened to you in some ways. I just wanted to make sure that you're doing okay and that everything is fine up here," she said before tapping his forehead.

"Some of the most recent cases did make me think about it but I spoke with Morgan and he calmed me down and we talked through everything. I'm also balanced up here," he assured her before tapping his head. "Trust me, the bad one is still locked away and the others are doing what they're supposed to do. I must confess though, I think my lustful side wants to pinch a bottom," he joked with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up," she said before hitting his arm. "Your lusty side can keep his hands to himself."

She brought her arm around him and brought him over to the barbeque. "Let's get some food on those skinny bones of yours."

* * *

Reid looked over to the bench and noticed that Henry looked a little down, he walked over with a cup of cherry soda and put it next to Henry. "Hey, what's wrong? You seem a little down."

"Hey, Uncle Spence," Henry smiled. "I just had a bad dream last night."

"What kind of bad dream?"

"Ever since the man in the mask, I don't have good dreams. Mommy and daddy worry about me," Henry sighed. "I don't feel so good."

"Do you want to go and lie down? Rossi wouldn't mind."

"Okay," Henry nodded before reaching up his arms. Reid brought him up and carried him over to Rossi.

"Rossi, Henry isn't feeling so good, I'm going to put him down in the guest room so he can try get some sleep. Can you tell JJ and Will?"

"Sure," Rossi said before looking at Henry. "I'll save you some desert, kiddo."

* * *

Henry was already asleep on his shoulder by the time they had arrived in the guest room, he gently placed Henry on the bed before grabbing the cover and bringing it over his godson. He touched the lamp so Henry wouldn't be left in complete darkness. Reid hated seeing the dark circles under his godson's eyes. He looked out of the window and made sure the others were all still talking in the garden.

He walked back over to Henry and took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go."

He pressed his hand down to Henry's head and closed his eyes.

* * *

_He opened his eyes and found himself in a dark carnival, all broken down and rusty. No light touched this place and he wasn't surprised that Henry was having difficulty sleeping. A small sobbing noise drew him over to the broken bumper cars. He climbed the steps to find Henry sitting in a bumper car and crying his knees to his chest. "Henry."_

_"Uncle Spence!" Henry cried before running forward. "I'm scared."_

_"I want you to do something for me," Reid said. "Close your eyes and when I tell you to open them, you'll be much happier."_

_Henry closed his eyes, Reid then covered his godson's ears and then closed his own eyes. He smiled when he heard the carnival music begin to play around him. He opened his eyes and then took his hands off Henry's ears. "Open up, kiddo."_

_Henry opened his eyes and gasped at the sight all around him. All his favourite tv characters were around the carnival along with his family, the sun was now shining down on the carnival, which was now colourful, alive and beautiful like it should have been. The smell of hot dogs, candy floss and caramel popcorn filled the air. Henry rushed down the bumper car stairs and into the arms of JJ and Will. Reid knew they weren't the real JJ and Will, they were dream versions to make Henry happy._

_"Sweet dreams, Henry."_

* * *

He took his hand away from his godson's head to see that a smile had now appeared on Henry's face. He made sure Henry was warm before leaving the room.

"What were you doing to him?" a voice came from next to him. He turned around to see Morgan looking at him.

"Nothing."

"That wasn't nothing," Morgan shook his head. "He's smiling and sleeping comfortably. Kid, what did you do?"

"I helped him."

"How?" Morgan questioned.

"Technically, I killed the dark Sandman. I don't know how but I can go into people's dreams now. Like yours, you fell asleep on the jet and dreamed about your dad, he was wearing a red sweater and it was thanksgiving."

Morgan took a step back, completely speechless. "You looked into my dreams. Reid, you've got his power now. I don't understand."

"I don't use it all the time and I only realised I could do it when I may have accidentally entered one of JJ's dreams. I didn't really need to see what she was dreaming about. Look, I never asked for this but I think I can use it for good things. Henry is dreaming about a wonderful and colourful carnival now instead of a dark one. I'm still me."

"I know," Morgan said. "So you saw my dad?"

"Yeah," Reid smiled. "I can see why you look up to him. Don't worry, Morgan, I'm the good kind of Sandman."

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